The Victory Strategy for Answered Prayer

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  There is a "feel" of victory in the atmosphere.  After long months of praying, with not much change in the natural, this new sensation is a welcome sign like sunshine after weeks of a torrential rain.

The warmth of His Presence is now more like a guiding light than the blanket of protection against the storm.  While I have been agonizing in one of many trials, He has been waiting for me to ask the right questions and pray the right prayers.

He hears the question in my heart, "Are there any wrong prayers?'  I answer myself, "No, not really", but there are prayers that seem to "not" get answers, and I want to know why?  His explanation is so simple that I am stunned at my own ignorance.

For a while now, I have changed my petition and begun asking my Counselor to give me "Heaven's strategy" for victory in all I have been praying specifically.

He takes me back to His Word and John 15:7 where Jesus said, "If you remain in Me and My word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given.  This is to my Father's Glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be My disciples."  Victory on earth is bound up in that verse.

Jesus said, "If you remain in Me".  Jesus is the personified Word of God; the "Walking Word" as He has been described. To remain in Him is to remain in the Word.  IE  Read your Bible!

"And My word remains in you".  From out of our hearts and minds flow all that we put into our hearts and minds.  It is essential to have His Word remain in our heart and mind.

"Ask whatever you wish and it will be given you".  If I am in Him, and His Word is in me,  His will and my desires actually merge to become one and the same.  We will have that for which we ask.

The "Heavenly strategy"  for victory on earth is to pray His Word down in every situation.  "Pray and say", was what Jesus taught.  "When you pray, say", and then He went on to outline a prayer model we call, the "Lord's prayer".

Looking at His encounter with the devil in the wilderness, I see His inward confidence and outward authority that the Word of God stands, for He said,  "it is written".  The spoken Word of God was the one-two punch that gave Him the victory back then. 

It bears mentioning that evil always plays a role in our trials (see Job's life).  And that whatever strategy we use, we must take that into account.  In co-government of our world, we must look around at what is out of God's Divine order and try to find a method of action we hope will change what we "see".

We can judge, we can cry, we can negotiate, we can yell, we can repent, we can compromise God's Word to fit our experience, but in all of that, our prayers can seem like gumballs thrown at a wall while we wonder which (if any ) will stick and be answered".

Today the Holy One speaks to provide that critical element so often overlooked when we face the impossible trials of life while praying for relief and rescue and deliverance.

"Speak God's Word and He will honor it.  God wants His children to succeed His way".

God's Word is His Will. "Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". As we speak out God's promises (already given) to His people, to meet our prayers and petitions,  He already knows we have, The Father is glorified by the fruit of the answers being made visible in our lives.

Our legacy is Christ's authority in the co-government of our world.  We are placed here to shine like starts in the universe not to just claim to be like Christ and then wallow in the mud like the rest of the world.

There are promises in the Word of God, written to cover every human need and every human threat. There are promises written that deal with the inhabitants who dwell beyond the realm of our human senses as well as promises that involve our eternal destination point after leaving planet earth.

The "key" is to start living in the Word of God, and find the promise that fits the need.  We then declare what "is written" and therefore must come to pass, with a Holy confidence.

At the spoken Word of God, all things that exist were created.  Heb 11:3, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command (spoken word).

Somehow our faith is affirmed by what we speak.  To declare God's Word reveals faith in His Word.  Faith in His Word brings manifestations whereby:

mountains are removed
storms are calmed
sickness and diseases flee
the impossible happens

God gets the Glory and we, His people, get the victory.  Speaking His word forever ends the argument so many use for deafeat:  You just do not have enough faith.  Speaking the word is all the faith required to claim the answers.  End of discussion.  Liar is silenced.

Finally I understand, there is a victory strategy for answered prayers. It hasn't changed since the foundation of the world  It remains and always will be:  GOD'S SPOKEN WORD!

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?



      

The Power Over Evil

The Holy One calls to me this morning. I confess I want to understand and know more about the mystery of My Creator God.  When things vex my mind, I cry out for His wisdom and rarely does He turn me away without the answer that I seek. 

I have learned not to put a timetable to His answer.  I have learned that He brings His wisdom in His timing, in His own unique way to fit perfectly inside my human mind.  Sometimes the wisdom I seek connects in unusual ways to the bigger picture. While I search for the smaller details of life to be made clear, He is calling me to war on a different level.

On the personal natural level, there is a hard battle being fought in defense of covenant marriage against the backdrop of divorce, and for the role of the father that has been denigrated and almost destroyed. 

On a personal level, the pain of divorce and the impact on children forced to live with the consequences is heartbreaking and almost unbearable.  The ordeal has put the covenant family in the gears of society's distorted world view of marriage and under the corrupt jurisdiction of the "courts of men". 

God's Divine Government has no bearing on the decisions that are being carried out when children become "wards of the state".  Abortion rights is yet another example of a war on children executed at the highest level of evil power passed to  the lowest level of depraved human indifference.  The Sanctity of Life and the value that God places on every human being conceived is being rejected and denied.

As the saga unfolds, many many times I hear the questions of the hurting hearts, "God, where are You?"  "Do You care?"  "When will the nightmare end?"

In the bigger picture,  I can see how the Lord is using the personal to help me understand the corporate. Others are suffering in similar ways and need encouragement and wisdom to escape the treachery that I have just been through. 

The Holy One calls me this morning out of my slumber and into my armour with the stark reminder that I do have a role in this battle even as "The battle belongs to the Lord".

The Lord calls me to look hard at Matt 18:18-19. He calls me to address my place on the battlefield and my assignment in the war.  He calls me to the place of my delegated authority to "co-govern" the world that touches my life.

Pursuit of the "American Dream", and all the energy it takes to acquire it, leaves the Church of the living God, with precious few warriors on the battlefield who have a heart to fight for the principles of Godly Government over our earth-bound lives. 

Looking back at the original garden and the original relationship between the Creator and His created, the "man" was given the Divine benediction and command to "take care of" as in "have dominion over"  the place of his habitation and not just live off the blessings of the land.

As a farmer works with the natural soil, we must work with the "Spiritual" soil we have been given.  We must sow and reap, but today the Spirit tells me, I must not forget to bind and loose.

The Holy One knows I have been frustrated, to say the least, with the appearance that evil is in charge of my world.  The wicked "seem" to flourish, while the righteous languish in circumstances that "seem" to have been formed and forged in the pit of hell.

I refuse to slip into despair,  so I have been asking my Counselor to speak to me about where I might be missing something important in the government of my world. His answers always come in response to my cries, not at the moment my questions are articulated, but according to His time and my ability to track with His answers.

Today is an answer day.  While I primarily view life as a battle, it can still be a puzzle that Divine pieces are being placed into as I journey with Jesus.  Where does each piece fit and how does it impact the battle I am in, forms the basis of my servant hood as Ambassador of my King and warrior for my Kingdom.

The Lord has helped me to see that, although I am just an older woman, or just a widow or just a__________ whatever the enemy may use to point out my weakness, I am still a beloved child of the Sovereign God who created everything and everyone, including the angel turned traitor. While in and of my flesh I am no match for the supernatural enemy of my soul, my Lord did not leave me defenseless or powerless.

God's government of the world is my business, because I am His servant and the officially delegated authority over my corner of His world.  In God's Divine Government and the Body of Christ on earth, the prayers of the saints are mightier than the powers of the evil one.

In Matt 18:18 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in Heaven."  In Matt 12:29, speaking of the evil one, Jesus said, "or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off  his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man, then he can rob his house"

The only way the enemy can enforce any form of his will is if we refuse or fail to pray....OR...and this is huge, if we agree with what we see him doing by speaking his agenda out over our circumstances through complaining rather than reclaiming our authority.  We must, by the spoken word, bind him and refrain, by the same spoken word, from agreeing with his power.

We must bind enemy forces and the activities we see him engaged in and then release or loose by the spoken word the Holy Spirit of Christ's authority over the situations we see. Looking at the life of Christ, Who is our model, we see him driving out the darkness and replacing it with His Light.

God's Word is His Will and His Government is plainly laid out in Scripture.  As we look around what do we see at cross purpose with God's Government in our "world"?  Everything, from inner family issues of division and childhood rebellion to the corrupt systems of the courts of men, is subject to our delegated authority should we choose to execute it.

While it is true that Jesus came to change hearts not the laws that govern society, when laws and rulings violate our Godly conscience and we still claim to be residents living in the land of the free we have a responsibility and then privilege to occupy our world that still belongs to the Lord, by and through His Holy Spirit, until He returns to rule and reign Himself.

As if to make sure that I do not miss His point, the Holy One takes me to yet another scripture in the book of Nehemiah, where the "workers" who were in charge of rebuilding the walls of protection around the Holy City...(hmmm...could that be our assignment as well?) were told in Nehemiah 4:14, "To remember the Lord and to fight for your brothers, yours sons, your daughters and your homes."  Verse 17 says, "those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each one of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked."

This is a  very poignant picture of how we are to live as builders and warriors for our Kingdom and our King.  Today the Holy Spirit has helped me see that wringing my hands is never an option.  Folding my hands in prayer, while gripping the sword in authority is required for the victory.

Binding the evil I see while loosing the power of the Spirit will cause victory to come from God's government in Heaven to our government on earth. Refusing to fight is the surest way to live in defeat. 

In your corner of God's world, what evil thing needs to be bound in the name of Jesus, and what situation needs to be changed through the intervention by His Spirit?  We are called to co-govern with our God.  The power over evil is yours to wield.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?     

 
 

Trinity Unity..The Model of Trust***

The Holy One call to me this morning. I have been blessed by family and others in the Body of Christ who have brought comfort and help to me and each other.  As I ponder, with thanksgiving, the encouragement such relational inter-action has brought, the Holy One speaks to me about "community".

"Jesus came to model Trinity Unity".  His statement draws me into deep thoughts about the Tri-une Godhead.   The Trinity IS community...and Jesus came to model that for us. Overlooked some times is the real inter-dependency the Father, Son and Holy Spirit had in the Lord's earth journey.

We know and read about Jesus' submission to the Father's Will unto death, but we don't always think about or realize His dependency on the Resurrection power and "performance" by the Holy Spirit after His death. He went to the Cross trusting the Spirit would raise His body from a death state.

Even though we cannot wrap our brains around or explain the mystery of the Trinity, scripture conveys the 3 part Godhead as Truth.  In the same way we cannot explain the secrets of the universe or the rules that hold our life and world together, we cannot explain the Trinity, or the inter- dependency of that unique and Sovereign Community we call God.

Jesus said He came to show us the Father.  He said He would send the Comforter AKA the Holy Spirit after leaving planet earth.  He said, "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me".  John 14:9-11.  Then He went on to explain the amazing promise that goes with "abiding" in that unity.   John 15:7 "If you remain in Me and My Word remains in You,  ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you."  

By His words, Jesus was conveying a "Mysterious Spiritual Union" that is called the Trinity, but more than that, He was laying out the relationship Trinity was about to draw humanity into.  We have the written Word that tells us, Jesus, "the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being.  Heb 1:3. 

We know that the "Son" took on flesh and blood to share in our humanity but with the ultimate goal that humanity could share community with God as the Trinity.  We know Jesus did the Father's Will.  We know that He submitted His own will to the Father's Will even unto death on a Cross.

We focus on the submission of Jesus in the Father-Son relationship which is a model for every believer in Jesus the Christ.  But Jesus also modelled trust in community at the deepest level. While He was in submission to the Father's Will, He was also trusting in the Holy Spirit to resurrect His body after His human death and that even after the Father turned away from the sin He bore in humanity's behalf.

When Jesus tells us to "Love one another" there is an exhortation to be in community as was modelled by His submission to the Father on the one hand and trust in the Holy Spirit for His resurrection on the other.

Jesus was the "assigned" Lamb of God, who knew He would bear the indictment and penalty of the Tri-une Godhead for humanity's wicked rebellion.  He was honored for His sacrifice and returned to His place of "original" Community with the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

I am in awe at the realization that we have been called into that Eternal Community and have been given the only key to that "Spiritual Union", Who is the Holy Spirit.

Identifying with the death of the Son while in His flesh body, identifies me with the resurrection of His Spirit unto a new life of unity with the Tri-une Godhead. No other way exists to join in the Heavenly Community of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As I consider the Lord's model of love and community, I see how I must learn to trust the Body of Christ under the lead of the Holy Spirit but also I must become a "trust worthy" member of this Divine and Holy community on earth.   Staying connected to the Lord in intimate personal relationship is mandatory for both.

There is no discord to the Trinity.  Each operates independently but in one accord.  Each honors the role of the other, and each brings Glory to the other.  We have the supreme privilege under the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring Glory to all Three.

The Body of Christ in unity and love is where we can fulfill the Lord's directive to "Love one another".  The fulfilling of that command is the extension of the Divine Community of the Trinity on earth.

I am realizing that this sense of community and inter-dependency is what the Lord wants from His Body. Will we honor and celebrate the gifts, strengths and talents of one another without competition or jealousy?  Will we support each other in the roles we have been assigned?  Will we come to those being crucified and offer resurrection prayers?  Or will we just walk away and say, "better you than me"?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

What IS Victory?

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  His word is firm.  He says it strong as if this is a very important piece to "our" strategy in the vexing issues of "our" life together.

His word is like a banner in the dark sky etched in flames:

 

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed"  Provb. 16:3

 

I have read this verse before, but today it takes on an unforgettable meaning for my heart and mind. 

 

When I first came to the Lord for rescue, I was like a drowning person going down for the third time.  His strong Gospel message of God's love as opposed to His wrath was a welcome relief and I surrendered myself to the Truth:  That the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was all for me.

 

Jesus became my Savior and I surrendered to His Lordship over my life.  Phase one completed, I moved on to a different lifestyle and focus. 

 

Phase 2 was, for me, the early lessons that salvation is not just my "get-out-of-jail-free" card or my "get-past-the-pearly-gates-and-enter-paradise-when-I-die" pass. 

 

Phase 2 was learning to live with my Savior; learning to see His influence over the battles I seemed to find myself fighting by the day, season or event in my earthly life.

 

Our relationship has grown and grown, but not without hiccups, not without challenges, and not without a need to crucify my flesh like He did on the Cross.

 

Surrender has been a big word over the years, acknowledging His Sovereignty and yet fearing it,  as if it is not the absolute best thing for my life.  I have discovered much in this course of study the Holy One has arranged for this season of my life.

 

Things like the reality of my carnal self.  Jesus told us (who read and embrace His Word) , "Apart from Me you can do nothing".  John 15:5.  and yet, 'If you remain in Me and My word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you". 

 

For me to question that God's Sovereignty is sweet,  makes me realize that my mind is being impacted by my flesh or carnal thinking and "that" thinking is being impacted by the enemy of my soul. 

 

In other words,  my carnal mind and my carnal emotions simply cannot be trusted for they are still able to be manipulated by the ancient deceiver, who is a liar and a snake.

 

Begin phase 3 and today's "word" for me causes me to make a subtle but important distinction between "surrender" and "commit".  Both are volitional and an act of free will.  For me to commit, means that beyond surrendering to His great authority in my life, I consciously give Him charge and custody over everything, while trusting that He will take everything "committed" unto successful victory.

 

Commit is a pro-active description of His charge over that which has been committed, while surrender suggests giving up to a greater force than self.

 

"Commit" for me, is rich with the idea of co-governing in recognizing and realizing that even my "best" plan is outside of my ability to insure a victory or see it succeed.  Commit is trust at a higher level than surrender.  Surrender has a fear tucked inside that commit does not.  Even when our Lord surrendered to the Crucifixion of His body, He committed the plan for resurrection to the Holy Spirit, who brought that plan to successful victory.

 

Now, my life is "Christ within", "Vine life" as He calls it.  Surrender having been made complete, by taking up His lordship and government over my life, I can go on trusting that my desire and His Will are one in the same.

 

The first step toward any victory is to commit each and every thing that I find to do,  unto Him.  The plan will unfold and  bring me to experience true victory,which is His.  So what is "Victory", after all?  I understand now, that true "Victory" is not my will for me but rather His will for me and that by committing it all to Him, I will enjoy the blessing of success.   

 

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed".

 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?     





 

Uncommon Peace

The Holy One calls me this morning.  The night wrestles have been brutal as the dark lords spew their lies.  Believers everywhere are under attack, not necessarily for their faith or Biblical world view directly, but circumstantially to distract us from the real battle that rages.

The darkness that covers the land is assaulting our families.  God's Divine Covenant called marriage and the children of those unions are being put through a thrasher.  The end game is ancient but rarely recognized in the emotional chaos of our society.

The goal of the enemy is the same goal as when he sat among the angels God created to serve His Sovereign purposes. This being created with the same free will that we have been born with, turned on the Creator and launched a mutiny taking 1/3 of the Heavenly Host along with him.

These "angels" who once served in the Heavenly Court, are now inciting rebellion on earth.  Working in the unseen realm of the spirit, these beings are responsible for manipulating humans to do their bidding and rebel against the will and Divine purposes of God.

While we are not to get our focus on demonology, we must acknowledge that the gospel record of Jesus' life as one of confronting those beings known as "demons" and their leader known as "Satan" the adversary of men.

Jesus' life on earth was to re-take dominion the first Adam surrendered to the enemy of the Creator God.  Jesus did what the original man failed to do:  Follow the directives of the One who spoke all things into existence and created the human to co-govern in His created universe.

Having failed to repent for original rebellion, Adam and Eve set their minds to blame shift with a little help from the "talking serpent".  This sheds some light on the "tempter" and his inner-action with us since the beginning of time. Without an understanding of the tempter's role, we get confused and then victimized by the voices in our heads suggesting everything from wrong perspectives to evil acts. 

Jesus came to rescue us .  He was the "human" sacrifice sent to pay the ultimate debt for the human sin of rebellion.  From the very onset of His earthly ministry and mission, we see Him exercising dominion over the tempter.

His 40 days in the wilderness (as recorded in Matt 4) with the presence of the devil, reveals this fact.  There was presented to Him, every temptation to complete the mission for which He was sent, under the power of darkness rather than in the Power of Heaven.  His flesh was the point of challenge just like ours is today:

The carnal mind was presented an alternative
The carnal emotions were incited
The carnal body was hungry

Yet through it all, Jesus kept focus not only on the Will of God from the written Word, but on the Ways of God as well.   God has His Will but also has a way that He desires His Will to be enacted by and through us. 

The enemy of our soul has a will also, and he works through the flesh of the human to enact it.  The devil' will hasn't changed.  His rebellion and subsequent eviction from the "paradise" of his creation and the lost honor he once enjoyed as the most beautiful of all God' angels, is to destroy God's Beloved human and separate us from our Creator.

Jesus came to rescue us from that dark dominion of Satanic control by bringing us back to our original peace in relationship with our Father in Heaven.  The Creator started off as a Father.  Rebellion by the human turned Him into a "God", not as in ultimate Sovereignty, but as in relational distance, impossible to reach and impossible to understand.  Since then, humanity has created and turned to many 'gods" yet, none but One, can be called "our Father".

Today, as I ponder the salvation of our souls, the rescue from the dominion of darkness and the Presence of the Holy One in my life, I see the need to surrender to His Lordship in all ways.  Having the mind of Christ is imperative  to gain the perspective I need over all the conflict I see. 

As I counsel with the Holy Spirit of Wisdom, He tells me to surrender my emotions as well as my mind to the Lordship of Christ.  I am emotionally devastated by all I see and I am "emotionally" motivated to act out of a hurting heart.

His sweet counsel today takes me to re-call the fruit of His Spirit in Galatians 5:22.  When the situations of this life ratchet up the heat, and confuse the heart, I am to remember that He is the source of all my appropriate emotional reactions.

When anger builds up against human opponents who hurt and betray me and He manifests "uncommon love" (I.E that which is uncommon to man, under the circumstance) somehow God is Glorified.  When  circumstances close in and discouragement pays a visit but He manifest "uncommon joy" somehow God is Glorified.   When the chaos is all around and yet He manifests to and through me "uncommon peace", somehow God is Glorified....and the list goes on.

The only way to explain this "fruit-filled" life is His Presence over-ruling my flesh.  I am brought o the place of surrender after along night of wrestles. His mind in exchange for mine.  His emotions in exchange for mine. 

And then comes the sense of an "uncommon peace", and I know my Lord is smiling.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

 

Eve, Wake Up!

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  I hear Him say, "Eve, wake up!"  It's always interesting as to how my Lord gets my attention first thing in the morning.

Maybe He is calling me to remember my earth birthday by taking me back to the day He created Eve.

The last year has been an amazing walk in His grace, having lost my earthly husband minutes after the day ended that was our 31st  wedding anniversary, and 3 days after my 65th year on earth.

The alone-ness has been challenging yet strangely, "OK".   I realize my relationship as the Lord's eternal Bride and this life journey, is much about seeing the temporal marriage as a symbol of the forever one and my earthly husband as a "stand-in" for my eternal One.

His greeting this morning was a surprise but also a clue for me to look back to "in the beginning" once again. 

Lately He has been gently arranging  for me to spend more time in His Presence, but not because of hard things I can't handle.  While the year of adjusting to temporal widowhood and other deep trials of family life have pressed me into deeper fellowship, I notice I am more drawn than pushed.  I find that I long for more of Him rather than less of loneliness.  He fills my mind with good things and appreciation for the blessings He brings with each new day.

Even as Eve was created, in a sense, for companionship and relationship with Adam, her first relationship was with her Creator.  Scripture tell us that Adam was put into a deep sleep, maybe even a "death" sleep when God took one of his ribs to fashion Eve.  (Gen 2:21)

How much time Eve spent with God alone is not clearly identified in the Creation account.  We are told that Adam spent alone time with God because the scriptures tell us "God took man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." 

God also gave, Adam, the command of his freedom to eat from any tree in the Garden except the one forbidden.  And then even told him the reason why it was forbidden.  God continued in His interaction with Adam by bringing all the animals He had created for the man to name them, which Adam did, and yet none was found to be a "suitable" helper for man.

But what we hear about Eve is simply that "Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man and He brought her to him".

Skipping over scripture can cause me to lose some of the precious details that are important to consider in understanding more of the mystery of our Creator God. The Holy One points out the small detail that He "brought" Eve to Adam.    This affirms to me that Eve's first relational experience was with the One who created her.

If we move too quickly through the Creation story, we can put the Adam/Eve, one flesh marriage relationship as her beginning.  Add to that the Divine structure of marriage and our role as women, I see that we can be deceived not just by the "serpent's" seduction but also by other voices that suggest we must go through husband or men to get to God.

We have been sold this lie and many have bought into a "legacy" that says, without a man we are deceivable and/or ignorant and/or you can fill in the blanks.  The deepest Truth and reality is that God wants a Sacred Romance with His beloved of both genders.

So much of our issues in marriage have to do with all of us "Eves" fearing loss of identity in our role rather than flourishing in it.  Remembering that God Himself is the "Role Giver" is important because we can return to Him personally at any time we have difficulty in relationship.

A word to all you Adams out there: In order your Eve to flourish, she needs to be encouraged in her sacred romance with her Creator, and it is up to you to facilitate it.

But I wonder, how much time did the Lord spend with created Eve?  What of her upcoming role with Adam might the Creator have shared with her?  While we can be blessed with our earthly husbands and appreciate our marriages for all they represent here on earth,  we must not forget that we translate as an individual and our relationship with our Creator and Lord is deeply personal and as unique as each one of us happens to be. 

Today the Lord wants to remind me that before I was a wife, I was His child. Relationship with my Lord becomes one long dialogue.  He brings blessed relief along with His wisdom for life day by day.

While I began this blog several days ago, it covers a sequence of "anniversaries" that are compressed into this week.  Each one must be traversed and processed.  Looking back at the trial of having to let go of my temporal husband after 31 years of "together",  I am reminded of the emotional choices that had to be made.

Choices such as:

The decision to surrender to the unfamiliar and trust my Lord who knows the end from the beginning.

The decision to look to the future instead of dwelling in the past.

The decision to believe that the Lord's purpose for my life didn't end when temporal widowhood began.

Each decision became the tonic of His Grace.

As I pass through this fleeting life on earth with it's ever fluctuating circumstances, I have been brought to the place of what I call the "eternal now".  The Holy One wants to make it so clear, that when He calls me to wake up each morning,  He wants my eyes and attention on Him alone, just like back in the beginning, before temporal life and death took it toll.

How thankful I am for the sweet and sacred romance that I share in the "eternal now" that means this very moment of peace can last forever.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 
  




  

Independence Day and The Return Of The King

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It's our celebration of Independence Day.  So important to America is our freedom from tyranny, we set this day aside to celebrate the founders and heroes of old who fought and died for what we take for granted each day.

The superficial assessment can be made that we fight for our liberty from oppressive government.  But the deeper evaluation is that we fight for our most basic fundamental freedom to decide life's issues for ourselves.

From our "Land of the Free" mentality we look at other people groups languishing under different forms of "tyranny" and we recoil at the frustration of living under a dictatorship.  Freedom is a wonderful thing and a natural desire for any person born of woman.

I am thankful to have been born in the USA.  I am grateful for the liberties we have to choose our destiny and that includes our ability to worship and serve The Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Over the last 2 election cycles, I have agonized over the reality that something dark and sinister has been surfacing out of the "Heart of America".  Jesus came to set the captives "free", and yet the captives seem to want slavery over freedom and a lesser life of guarantees over a bountiful one of endless possibilities to thrive and prosper.

The Holy One tracks my sentiments and speaks a vital truth.  "You live in the land of exile on earth.  Until the rightful King returns there will be no perfect government for anyone".

I realize that any "human" government is a flawed government and alien to the sweet freedom we were created to live in.  Back in the "Garden" the first man and woman were given the benediction to take and have dominion over all of God's Creation. 

Absent is the directive or permission to have dominion over each other.  Even in the structure of the Divine Covenant we call marriage was the directive unto mutual submission for the benefit of each other and the family unit as a whole.

It follows, in my thinking, that the fall created a chasm between man and his fellows as well as a chasm between man and his Creator God. We see the evidence of people trying to "Lord it over" each other from the top levels of government right down and into the Church of the Living God. 

The wisdom of the Holy One brings a relief and at the same time a challenge.  I understand that I am living in the land of exile and however pleasant it might have been over the course of my life, this land is not my home. 

Our founders fought to establish a government where people could live with Biblical freedom and yet be protected from the threats of tyranny both foreign and domestic.

The Holy One speaks again, "Your government represents the best that man can establish, yet it is not permanent or eternal". 

As I ponder what that means, I look at where we are in the Prophetic timetable of man's days upon the earth.  Everything is coming to an end according to Scripture.  I understand that just as God is Sovereign and in control of  the days and times of our personal lives, He is also in control of the timeline we live within.

While I see the personal significance and Truth in the words of my Jesus, "Apart from Me you can do nothing", (John 15:5), I haven't put it together with the bigger picture of our days.

He is allowing us to see that the governments of men, no matter how nobly founded, are corruptible.  We are being prepared to be ushered into the Millennial Reign of Christ upon the earth.  The Lord waits for each one of us to get to the end of ourselves: our depravity and our individual desperate recognized need for rescue...... then steps in.

Who is to say that the corruption of this, our great government, surfacing for all to see is not the Divine pre-cursor to the anticipated return and established government of the King of Kings.

While I am saddened by the corruption and eroding of our national freedoms, I find within my heart a growing excitement and anticipation for the return of My King.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?    

Be Still

The Holy One calls me this morning.  The power is out.....again. This Spring season has brought more thunderstorms and power outages than any I have experienced since moving to my new land.

Sitting alone in the dark this morning before seeing the sun come up to chase it away is very symbolic to me.  The Holy One is ever present so the alone for me isn't really "alone" but without human companionship the quiet can be quite deafening.

Being without power on my land means no lights, no phones, no computers, even no water as the well pump runs on electricity.  In the city, life is still moving forward with gas, backup generators, and fix-it crews, but here it's a time to just "Be still".

The Holy One speaks into the darkness with His Word, "Be still and know that I am God".  Psalm 46:10.  Today, I  realize that in the fast paced life I live, I am not so comfortable in the abject stillness.

The Lord has arranged this time for me to process and ponder the "moment".  He has arranged for the normal "distractions" to be silent.  I think about how our trials are like being without power, and the bigger challenge, when we are hemmed in and out of "control", is to "Be still and know that I am God".

The day is coming when all the wonderful technology of man will be silenced. There is a time when the entire universe will stop and we will stand before our Creator God.  There will be none to call.  No one to Face Book, no one to run to, silence all around.....Just me and God.

For some the thought of no technology or "white noise" is a form of Hell.  Add to the silence, total isolation and that is a true picture of eternity without the Light of Life.  We were created to be relational.  Our true relational being and fulfillment starts and ends with our Creator, through His One and only Son, Jesus.

God, as the Father, is available today to all of us in relationship.  The Son was sent to rescue us from the dark and lonely place of separation and isolation from our Creator and "Daddy", yet we are busy  ignoring the One who is calling us and thereby, missing out on the wonder and peace of that comforting relationship.   

We can see our "trials" in life as due to misfortune, or a screw-up/failure or even a cruel joke by the powers that be.  But what if our trials are designed to sit us down in relational dependency, where God becomes for us the Reality that He is:  Our relational community and our power source for all of life both temporal and eternal.

We cannot fix ourselves no matter how gifted we are or how hard we try.  But in every hard place we find ourselves, God has a purpose.  Today in the silence I know my Lord wants my undivided attention. I am thankful that this trial is simply a few hours with no earthly distractions.

But the question is, "Will I remember this on another day in another trial when the "no power" issue may hit home?  Will I "Be still" and know that He is God if other relationships get strained or my work gets frustrated or my agenda gets cancelled?

The Holy One is calling all of us to participate in the priceless fellowship and community of the Trinity.  Out of that primary and secure relationship comes all the other important ones and the power to do all we feel called to do.  The sweet familiarity we gain with our Abba Father here, relieves the fear of the future when we will be called into His Presence and it's "just us".

Interestingly, as I pen these last words, the power has been restored and I can move on with the day.  I praise the Lord for His graphic picture of today's important lesson.
 
But I think I'll  "Be still" for just a little longer and enjoy the sweet fellowship with my Lord.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?